Koku Kitchen | El Born — Restaurant in Barcelona

I actually don’t understand the good reviews (no hate!). Maybe it’s because i’m asian and used to authentic food.. but first of all there was not even one asian employee.. Idk maybe it was just a coincidence but kinda gives me a weird feeling of some people trying to make a business based on another culture and asian food.

But I have to say: Edamame und the Iced Tea was delicious! The Veggie Gyoza was good but please don’t compare it to authentic gyoza.

The Shoyu Ramen was sad. The noodles and soup tasted like nothing. Ramen is my go-to-meal but this was really disappointing. Still the Chicken was good.

All in All I can’t recommend this restaurant. If you want to eat a few side dishes and a good drink it’s probably a good option but never for authentic asian food!

Just my honest opinion 😶

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Just saw the answer of the restaurant on my review and have to say that I think their way to approach new people and hire employees is great.

Still: My comment about my weird feeling because I haven’t see an asian employee oder POC at the restaurant is not connected on how their food was tasting good or not? So don’t mix that up please. I just mentioned my concerns whether there are also asians/ POC working for the restaurant. You might have already heard about „Cultural Appropriation“. But if that’s not the case - even better!

That some of their dishes weren’t tasty for me was just my honest opinion and my personal taste who is used to authentic food 🤷🏻‍♀️ So don’t worry- I sure can enjoy my food without considering the ethnicity of others. But not in your...

Nice decor, conveniently located near Placa del Born. Positively weird that they greet you without a smile and asking you if you are there for ramen or bun. What do I know when I come in and haven't seen the menu? Apparently you have to go downstairs if you want to order ramen. I am sure they have their logistical reasons but I think it is not a good business model and they should change it. Slow service, despite empty place when arrived (it filled quickly after that).

Pork dumplings all right, nothing special, more vegetables than pork. The bao black sea was excellent. Water “Km0” really is nothing more than filtered water, overpriced. 21 euros total.

In their menu they have indications for different ingredients that some people may dislike/being allergic to, but I found them to be at least partly unreliable. One of the ingredients (code 15) is cilantro/coriander (which I strongly dislike) and it was neither indicated in a plate where it was part of the name of the plate itself (which is ok after all) nor in my bun, where instead a large quantity of it was included (fortunately, it was not sprinkled on top and it could be easily separated so I just discarded it).

Overall didn't like it enough to make me want to go back, but maybe I will give the...

We had a really bad experience. We ordered a salad and gyozas as a starter, then baos and ramen as a main. So all arrived to the table on the same time. We were like wtf… this is not how u deal with ur clients, especially in Spain, where people really like to enjoy their food&meeting. Salad was supposed to have papaya but it had 2 mini pieces, just a regular salad a bit too dry. Gyozas were just correct. Baos were so dry. There was no salsa or not enough amount of it, depends of the kind. Pork bao was really dry, the meet was too long cooked and it was so chewy. Also the bao bun is too small and all the feeling doesn’t fit inside so eating isn’t comfortable. NOT RECOMMENDED. Ramen was correct. The experience in general was quite bad. We felt like they wanna kick us out as fast as possible. Waiters were zero helpful, some they don’t even know what is in the menu. Definitely we will never be back cuz there are much better places in Barcelona to enjoy baos, ramen...